The purposes of this study were twofold: to examine the effects of a community of practice (CoP) on (1) physical educators' and their students' health-related fitness content knowledge and (2) the physical educators' health-related fitness pedagogical content knowledge construction process. Twelve experienced physical education teachers (six in…

Objective: To consider the short- and medium-term impact of a school-based exhibition of prevention materials designed by adolescents in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) knowledge and attitudes and in the school's involvement in health education. Design: Mixed-methodology that combines quantitative and…

One of the solutions implemented by schools for conducting value-based environmental education (EE) is outsourcing: allocating external environmental organizations that develop and conduct EE programmes. This study addressed such a programme--the Green Council Programme (GCP)--developed and implemented in schools by the Israeli Society for…

This mixed-methods study considered the effects of ethical philosophy programming at a high-performing, high-poverty urban high school upon the academic integrity of participating adolescents ("n" = 279). Analyses of pre-post survey data revealed that participating adolescents reported significantly higher levels of academic integrity…

This study investigated the influence of pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) for teaching macroevolution on non-science majors' knowledge of macroevolution and evolution acceptance. The nature and sources of an experienced faculty member's PCK and instruction as enacted PCK (Park & Oliver, 2008) were examined to consider the influence of these…

Research has indicated that parents of children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) experience more feelings of isolation, depression and stress than those of children with other disorders including ADHD and Down Syndrome. While these feelings are especially elevated in parents living in rural communities who may have limited access to services,…

A mixed-methods study was conducted to determine if extra reading practice incorporated into fifth-and sixth-grade social studies and science content classes would have a positive impact on reading assessments for readers at risk. At-risk readers' independent reading levels were assessed using Dynamic Indicator of Basic Early Literacy Skills or…

This dissertation utilized a mixed-methods, quasi-experimental design to investigate the impact of parent development on rising third graders' summer reading losses as measured by the difference in May and August oral reading fluency scores. Title I parents and students from three schools in a rural North Carolina school district participated in a…

Dynamic assessment (DA) is based on Vygotsky's (1978) sociocultural theory and his Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD). ZPD is the range of abilities bordered by the learner's assisted and independent performances. Previous studies showed promising results for DA in tutoring settings. However, they did not use proficiency-based rubrics to measure…

There is a critical need to mentor novice special education teachers to meet the current and projected teacher shortages. However, due to the various skill-levels of beginning special education teachers in schools and the small number of current special educators in each school who could serve as mentors, there is difficulty finding…

Retaining teachers and accessing professional development have been long-standing struggles for rural school districts, particularly with respect to teachers with special education endorsements. This study examined the effect of asynchronous online professional development in secondary special education and transition for 86 rural special…

The mixed-method explanatory research design was employed to investigate the effectiveness of the Accelerated Reader (AR) program on middle school students' reading achievement and motivation. A total of 211 sixth to eighth-grade students provided quantitative data by completing an AR Survey. Thirty of the 211 students were randomly selected to…

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have difficulty with attention, impulsiveness, and safety issues; consequently, special measures must be taken to secure their safety. One such measure is canine intervention, which provides children with highly trained service dogs that can respond to their autism behaviors. Social support theory…

Employing multiple methods, including a comparison group pre/posttest design and student interviews and self-reflections, this study represents an initial attempt to investigate the efficacy of a social and emotional learning self-regulation strategy relative to the general reading ability, reading self-concept, and social and emotional well-being…

The area of professional development, within the educational setting, is critical to on-going learning for teachers and ultimately, higher student achievement. The literature on professional development is vast; however, the empirical research on implementation of skills learned from the training to the classroom is lacking. This study looked at…